Daydream

Chapter Thirty-Four- Erin

In the room with everyone, I felt an elation that I could never have felt without them. It was so fun with everyone. We were playing cards and making lunch and eating and making a mess... everything felt so light-hearted and casual. Nothing was tense.

It felt like I had known these kids my entire life.

At about 3 PM, Kasey suggested we go down to the lake. There was a lake right next to the hotel and it was fairly large. Me and Kasey didn't have swimsuits, but Riley said she could just swim in her t-shirt and shorts (basically her whole wardrobe) and Ethan had shorts.

Riley and me still had her mom's car, so we took Ethan and Kasey to Beaches Swimwear and bought Kasey and me swimsuits.

"Hey, can I pay you back?" Kasey ruffled through her bag. She had bought a pretty expensive two-piece. 

"No, it's fine." I turned onto the street of the lake. "I have enough."

"Where are you even getting all this money from?" Riley asked me, actually concerned. "Please don't spend too much money on us."

I laughed, feeling a pang of guilt. I hid it. "My parents gave me some," I lied, hoping the name on the credit card in my pocket wasn't showing. 

"Oh, great." Riley didn't question that it was a credit card and sipped her coffee which she had prepared at the hotel. 

I pulled into a parking spot on the edge of the lake. It looked refreshing. "Hop in, guys."

Riley waited a couple minutes for us to tell her if it was cold. After at least 5 minutes of waiting for her, she stood up. "Screw it," she rolled her eyes and did a cannonball right in the shallow end. 

Kasey and Ethan were laughing their heads off, but I was genuinely worried. "Are you okay?" I asked, holding back a snicker. 

"I'm fine, my butt's a little sore though." She chuckled. 

Kasey laughed. "Oh, mine too." Ethan slapped her, his cheeks turning red. 

Riley found that hilarious.

The water was warmer than I'd expected for a colder-than-usual day for summer in Washington. We waded in it for a while and then eventually had to get out. 

I lifted Riley's towel out of the back. "Here you go," she took it and rubbed her face with it. 

"Thanks." 

Kasey and Ethan sat on a rock by the water, leaning against each other. Kasey looked distressed, but nobody had said or done anything. In fact, everything seemed perfect. 

We piled in the SUV and drove back the short ride to the hotel, hoping to warm up with some food and a movie. 

While watching a completely normal and not gay movie called the Joker. Riley got up to go "puke" in the bathroom halfway through the movie when they showed not gay sexual images.